Explore, do a variety of things. It's not a race to max level. Cool content is in every zone. There's no quest tracker in the game because it's not that sort of game.

Best pointer you'll ever get.
GW2 is nothing like WoW or SWtor (havnt played rift so can't say but im guessing it applies to that aswell)
As pointed out, is a exploration game. I found myself doing the Centaur Chain in Harathi Highlands 4 times a day for a week. Just cause i loved it, did it during night time so i could solo as long as possible, the first time i got passed the north/south camps was a great feeling (playing as greatsword guardian).

Now i'm 80 with my guardian and i have no idea what to do, since i don't really feel like doing SPvP and WvWvW is such a zergfest i just farm the same event over and over and having a blast.
Next thing on the list is to level a Ranger Norn.

Like the title said. I just started PLAYING GW2. So far all I have done is lvl a couple of characters to 10-12 before I got bored.

First thing. I often find myself w/o any quests to do, and I'm forced to wait on events to happen so I can level to do more quests. Is it really supposed to be like this? Having to just sit and wait for things to happen is mainly the only reason I got bored.

Is there anything else to do?
Pvp is not an option, mainly because I don't like to do PVP before I really understand how the game works, even yet play my own class properly.
also, no big fan of farming. Farming is something I would consider doing when I actually got a pretty nice overview on the game, know what to do and so on. Having to farm in such a low level because you don't have any quest or storyline to follow due to the fact that I'm forced to wait for events or something similiar is nothing but a huge disappointment

Grab yourself some mining picks, axes and sickles appropriate for the zones you're in. Harvest everything in your path for xp. Sell what you gather for money. I don't like crafting (in any game), but you can get xp there too. I'm not sure what you meant by farming, but you get xp for doing everything in this game. You even get xp for rezzing people and helping them kill mobs. I've outleveled every single zone just doing hearts, dynamic events, gathering and map complete. I also do the daily. Gives a decent chunk of xp while leveling. There is no need to farm mobs for levels if I think that's what you meant. If the DEs aren't popping, just go to the next heart or gather/work on a little map complete around the area. You can also do jumping puzzles for a change of pace, most maps have at least one.

Please don't take this the wrong way. If you need to be told what do or need structure in this game, it might be that this game is just not for you. The game is more for people who like exploring and do their own thing. You play GW2 for the sake of playing it, imo. The endgame treadmill here is mostly nonexistent, and if you want the vertical progression of WoW..you might want to look to Rift or SWTOR instead.

Meh, I hate how these threads always turn into this condescending, "You're doing it wrong." or "You're just thinking like a WoW player" stuff.

It's true that the leveling PvE can get very stale very fast. To be fair that's not entirely a GW2 fault, it's just sort of how PvE is for a lot of people in any MMO. However, GW2 can be particularly boring simply because it feels like you're just roaming around doing nothing most of the time. Now some people really like that, so it's clearly a system that many people like. For other people it simply gets boring that much faster.

For all the flaws of the "WoW system", at least it generally presented you with a story and sequence of events versus the GW2 system of "Hey, the centaurs are attacking the exact same place in the same formation that they did 5 minutes ago." and "Oh, that troll is mad again, better kill it again." Don't get me wrong, Events are a cool system, but especially when you're leveling it can quickly start to feel like you're either hunting for them or camping them because it's easy to do all the hearts and such in an area and still not be high enough level to move on. At the end of the day searching for events or camping events isn't much different than just bouncing back and forth between mob spawns in WoW and grinding that way.

So, GW2 is very free-form. And it won't change at any point. There's no big shift in the nature of the content at level 50 or 60 or 80. Meaning that if the style of PvE just isn't to your liking now then there's not a lot of reason to keep bothering, because there's no "endgame" that you're working toward. There's always WvW or PvP if you do like the gameplay style but find the PvE to be horribly boring. (Like I do)

None of this has anything to do with "doing it wrong" or "thinking about it wrong" or "needing to be told what to do", it's just a different type of game than you've played before.

Unless I misunderstood the OP, the game itself isn't what's boring, it's being underleveled, which prevents progress. Stopping to view vistas, talk to NPCs, etc. isn't going to change that.

Here's what you should know: Early leveling is "balanced" around gathering, crafting, and personal story in addition to map exploration. If you cut out any of those things in the beginning you will be underleveled.

My suggestions: Whenever you come to a heart, try to do whatever nearby corresponding event there is. While that's not always possible, it helps a lot in terms of EXP gain. Make sure you do your personal story steps up to at least level 10, they are a HUGE chunk of EXP. I don't know what you consider "farming", but usually people are good about announcing events and if they're not doing it already (Queensdale is especially excellent about this) they'll tell you if you ask. This does mean some bouncing around the map, but also a much higher chance of seeing all the events + completing nearby hearts.

Do not discount going to another starting zone, especially if for whatever reason all else fails. Each racial capital has a portal to Lion's Arch which will put you at a hub for the city portals for other racial zones. If you find that at level 7, for example, everything is too high level for you then go to another zone for awhile. I would suggest doing at least two starting zones anyway, that virtually guarantees you won't be underleveled anymore, possibly for the rest of your character's life unless you're pushing things too far. Look at the world map and see what level range the zones are and just make sure you don't go to one that's higher than what you are. Past level 15 I never had any issues being underleveled again, but like I said if you skip out things the game seems to expect everyone to do then getting there can be a pain.

The classes / battle system are what did the game in for me. Most of the abilities are pointless, nothing felt powerful and it was just completely unfun for me. I gave it a solid try, played for a month and a half after it came out and I only made it to ~44 on my Elementalist. I had high hopes for GW2, but they just didn't pan out for me. It might be the same for you OP, it's just not a game that's up your alley

The classes / battle system are what did the game in for me. Most of the abilities are pointless, nothing felt powerful and it was just completely unfun for me. I gave it a solid try, played for a month and a half after it came out and I only made it to ~44 on my Elementalist. I had high hopes for GW2, but they just didn't pan out for me. It might be the same for you OP, it's just not a game that's up your alley

asked about pointers. Please don't bring up unrelated topics. Allready played WOW for several years, still do. Just got bored of it. Looking for something new. GW2 looked like a great game to try out. Just the leveling experience ruined it.

It was a good pointed. After I got to max level and 100% map completion there was no point in playing GW2 for me. The dungeons where really shit ( I herd they're less shit now but still) PvP was kinda fun at first but got kinda dull shortly.

It's just not that great of a game imo, was it worth the 50$? Sure I guess so I put a few hundred hours into it so I can't complain.

GW2 imo is a game that needs to be played with others. WvW imo is the main "end-game" kind of thing, especially on my server. WvW isn't like pvp to me tho, and it is much more enjoyable than a 10v10 BG etc. 100v100v100 is so epic and on such a large scale that if you really get into it, it can be really, really enjoyable.

If your used to the MMO where u see the yellow exclamation and run and do quests, I don't think this is really the best game for you. At the start, I thought it was woeful as well, but as I got to 80 and got all my exotics etc, I realised how fun it actually is. It will take some time getting used to a MMO of this type, as it is different from a lot of MMOs out there atm. Just play around with it, and enjoy what's around you and immerse yourself in the game, and it can be really fun.

In a game like guild wars 2, you are expected to have the mind set to explore. Being underleveled will only happen if you don't get into that mindset really.

Start a character, explore the 5 cities. you will be at level 8 without killing a thing. 100% your first zone you will be lvl 16ish. if you 100% all 5 starter zones, you will be lvel 35 before you leave the 1-15 zones.

Is it the most intuitive way? no. But the game is designed around you wanting to do map completion. If you don't want to explore, then leveling will be painful. Deal with it.

Almost everything that could be said about leveling, has been said in this thread.
One thing I would advice you is to try and play with friends.
It might not be the most efficient way to level, but it is the most fun way.
In addition to that, try to do everything on the map you're on: hearts, events, personal story, map exploration, gathering and daily quest.
Crafting isn't even neccesary, as I noticed recently when I started playing a new alt (I have spread all the crafting disciplines over my other alts, so I didn't bother with crafting on my new alt).
Also, please don't take this as a "you're doing it wrong", most of us are just trying to help, but some might make it seem like we're trying to dictate your playstyle (unintentionally ofcourse).

Last edited by Shortcut; 2013-07-28 at 03:30 PM.

Accusing someone of breaking the forum rules is backseat moderating.
Accusing someone of backseat moderating is backseat moderating.
Therefore, due to its nature, backseat moderating will lead to nothing more than circular discussions.

There is always some form of Champion / Event / Rare Spawn or something going on in the zone you're in, so just ask in /map for what is happening, and you'll soon find yourself with plenty to do.

The game is nothing like World of Warcraft, don't rush the leveling process because that is literally the most exciting and adventurous part of the Guild Wars PvE. Of course there is plenty to do at 80, no doubt, but Guild Wars is much more of a PvP game, then a PvE Game. There are no raids like those in WoW, and you must remember you're not staring at your U.I. like in WoW.

You don't ever need to farm, or gather anything to level, but it is a nice little trickle of experience overtime. If you're running out of things to do, it is probably just because you've not learnt enough about the Map, to know where to look for exciting events.

However, Guild Wars is not for everyone. WoW has very much set in stone the mindset of some individuals as to what an MMO should be like, and Guild Wars is just not the same. It takes time to get used too, it really does, but if you stick with it, and play it full time like you would WoW, I guarantee within a month, you'll be hooked!

Edit; I've not reached level 80 yet, I'm only around 59 or something, but I've also only done about 25% of the world map. I've done a dungeon or two as well, but there is just SO much to do, so many events, quests, stories, and just little adventures that the game really feels like a living breathing world, unlike WoW where once you out-level a zone, you'll never go back.

I'll just quote this since you preety much stated what I thought.

As for the topic. OP, you're playing the game wrong. This game is not about "let me finish those hearts as fast as I can... ok, done... what now?" kind of deal. You need to stop, talk to npcs, go on events around you while en route to the next heart, explore, do jumping puzzles etc. This game is more of a "I'm going to next heart... but oh, there's an event there, I'll do that first... I found a secret area, let me explore it first... hey, a new city, let me talk to everyone... wait... what was I doing originally?" kind of game.

It's true there is no sense of direction in this game, if that's not your cup of tea you will be very disappointed.

90% of the events are the same as any other MMO quest no matter what other people tell you, but they are "dynamic" or so I've been told lol they repeat again 5 minutes later.

You could easily race to 80 by crafting and farming events which is pretty much what you do to level in this unless you want to take your time and it takes even longer than in WoW. Hearts are your average quest go fetch this, that, etc. and usually include a nearby event so you finish both at once. You'll see what I mean if you keep playing.

It's also true that if you go through and finish all hearts in a zone you will still be underleveled. You must also do your personal story along the way and farm a few events. XP boosts are largely useless here because they only count towards mob xp which is so underwhelming and pathetic it's almost not worth mentioning. I guess it was ANets way of preventing mob grind so we can instead grind events.

All that said, it's not a bad game at 80 but nothing special either. Same events with same mechanics but at least you have all your traits and gear at that point. If you're a lore junky you have to speak to every NPC you see because no one is going to even mention why those bandits are raiding the farm or raping their children. It just happens, because yay dynamic. Don't expect any more than 1-3 sentences that may or may not have anything to do with that bandit raid either.

I love leveling in this game, so far I got 4 characters to 80 and I've never had to wait for events to happen, you must be doing something wrong, do all the heart quests aswell as the skill points, vistas and points of interest, if you are still too low level to advance in the zone you're doing see if you can do the next story mission, if not go to another lower level area and start doing that one, since you get downleveled but still get experience and loot adequate for your level there's no problem with it, it's not like WoW where when you outlevel a zone there's no point to go back.

I felt the pacing on the main story quests were poorly done. Rather than "they're going to invade the city and kill the queen" at the start of a quest, it ENDED a quest with it. So you got "They're going to invade the city and kill the queen!!!!..........why don't you go explore another area and kill some wolves or something for a while and come back later to deal with it?"

Isn't that more realistic? If you need to go and find someone out in the world then that's what would logically happen. You need to go and explore to find them and those things take time.

The leveling experience in gw2 is the best part of the game. Unfortunately, many people are now so used to having a structured and guided experience that it takes some time to adjust to the different mindset. Basically, you go out and explore and do what you want to do. Pretty much everything in game gives you experience and so you will level.

Don't wait for events. Don't force yourself to do every single heart (unless you want to). If you're ignoring gathering nodes, vistas, jumping puzzles, and generally things other than pure killing, you're going to level a little slower than people who don't, but that's fine. If you find yourself too low level for the hearts/events you're fighting, switch zones or do a dungeon (a dungeon run is basically a full level).

None of this has anything to do with "doing it wrong" or "thinking about it wrong" or "needing to be told what to do", it's just a different type of game than you've played before.

Yes and no. The reason why people say that is because a lot of people come into the game expecting WOW type leveling. The moment you have a preconceived idea of what things should be like you will affect your gameplay (positively or negatively). The WOW type of play guides people a lot. They are told what to do, the goals are given to them. From questing to end game. In GW2 about the only goal given to people is getting to level 80 and maybe the hearts. For people who have come from traditional MMO's, it's quite a culture shock. I know I battled when I got to Orr and the hearts ran out as I was still following that model until then. I was doing zone completion on all of the zones I went to but I was still using the hearts to guide where I should go.

This is exactly the kind of nonsense I'm talking about. He's not "playing it wrong", hell if the whole idea of the game encouraging you to play how you want is accurate, then how the heck do you "do it wrong"? That's silly. It's like telling someone, "You can pick anything for dinner that you want, as long as you pick pizza."

Yes and no. The reason why people say that is because a lot of people come into the game expecting WOW type leveling. The moment you have a preconceived idea of what things should be like you will affect your gameplay (positively or negatively). The WOW type of play guides people a lot. They are told what to do, the goals are given to them. From questing to end game. In GW2 about the only goal given to people is getting to level 80 and maybe the hearts. For people who have come from traditional MMO's, it's quite a culture shock. I know I battled when I got to Orr and the hearts ran out as I was still following that model until then. I was doing zone completion on all of the zones I went to but I was still using the hearts to guide where I should

Eh, it's not really THAT different in WoW style games, despite all the game-tribalism that goes on around here. Things are presented differently, but a "Kill 20 Centaur" quest in Thousand Needles isn't really THAT different from an event in GW2 where 20 Centaur attack the village again. Hearts and PoI's and such guide you from place to place similar to how exclamation points in WoW do, so on and so forth. It's not a HUGE shift in functionality, it's more in the presentation.

If anything the difference is - as the OP experienced - often in the tuning. WoW quests are (generally) clustered and have their XP rewards tuned in such a way that it's difficult to NOT be leveled up enough to move on once you're done, whereas in GW2 things are a bit more loose and it's easy to "do all the things" and still end up a little behind sometimes.